The after effects of smoking weed....does anyone have mental issues?

Question

I'm 23. I smoked weed between the ages of 15 and 20. For 2 of these years I smoked weed at least 3-4 times a day at times it could go to 8-10 times a day. I was very depressed at the time.
Although 3 years on and those problems are long gone now.

But my moods are uncontrolable. Sometimes I get up feeling great and other times absolutely ****. I'm sometimes motivated and sometimes not. I feel like I don't know if I should go left or right. I gradually go between being a optimist and a pessimist, back and forth. Almost like different personalities or aspects of myself. I constantly think and analyze in my mind. Ruminating rather then doing something. I feel comfortable one day and uncomfortable with myself the next.

I was wondering if anyone who has smoked cannabis regularly before has experienced the same. I know they say that schyzophrenia is a side effect but I don't think what I've got is that severe. I still consider myself kinda normal and not too weird.

I haven't smoked weed for 2 years, that's why I say "after effects" - contrirary to what people have understood from looking at the replies

Answer 1

cannabis kill brain cells...it could have killed some in that area of your brain...I smoked somewhat less than you, but still a decent amount in those years, but I don't seem to have any residual effects.

Answer 2

I think there is something in what you say. I have suffered with depression since coming off the hash - I smoked solids and I dont put the depression down to that totally but it sure hasnt helped. My son in law and a few others around where I live have been smoking 'skunk' for years and they are having terrible problems now. They swing from not being able to sleep to sleeping uncontrollably - losing appetite to pigging out. The lad next door to me is desperately trying to give up the weed as he's unemployed and cant afford it - he does so well for a couple of weeks and then he just loses it - his moods go berserk and he usually ends up going down the pawn shop and selling stuff to get an 1/8th. For years I denied it had any addictive or harmful qualities - now I'm just not so sure . Maybe one aspect is that we've all been numbing our true feelings with puff for a while and suddenly to have to deal with our emotions raw could it be that we're just very aware of what we feel now as where before a smoke would sort it - like if you felt down a spliff would cheer me up - if I felt hyper then a smoke would chill me out - so I was always at that chilled level (which wasnt a bad place to be ) xxx

Answer 3

I went through a period of smoking weed on a daily basis when I was between the ages of 20 and 26 (I am now 33). I stopped instantly one day when I had a SEVERE case of paranoia and depression and refused to leave my bed for 4 days!! Sounds funny now, but it was truly horrible at the time.
Although I am what I would call 'OK' now, I did go through a few years of thinking my moods and feelings were not normal, kind of irratic. But since then I have figured I supressed my moods so much with weed during an age-range in my life when you learn to adapt and change as an adult - I had to kind of learn to live in the real world and get the hang of dealing with emotions on a level without weed. Maybe you are still just learning what true emotions feel like without being dampened by weed - they can be kind of overwhelming when you're not used to their full force. Stick with it, accept them, learn from them and don't beat yourself up about it.

Answer 4

I have just stopped smoking weed for the last eight days and can honestly say i feel crap, i cannot sleep and i cannot eat properly. The mornings are awful but i also get very on edge around bed time because i know I'm only going to get 2-3hrs sleep and then PING I'm wide awake thinking about a all the problems i have (I'm off work with anxiety and facing a disciplinary) I wish to god i never started smoking weed (15years everyday all day) as I'm only 33 and i scared about what I've done to myself. I know I'm not a bad person but when you see all this stuff about mental health issues you do start to worry, hang in there mate i think things can only get better

Answer 5

Cigarettes do not have any mental effects but they do have very bad physical effects. Marijuana does not have any physical effects and does not cause depression, contrary to popular belief, in fact it can help with it. As for doing bad in school, I smoke about once a week and I still get straight A's in school, although I can't speak for other people. But weed does has a very very small chance of making a preexisting mental illness that you may not of known you had surface.

Answer 6

Yes, those are side effects of weed. Over time, your memory gets better but you still have mood swings. Smoking that often makes your body and mind accustomed to the calming effects of smoking. Have you replaced smoking weed with another substance like alcohol or nicotine? That will keep these mood swings in full effect.

Answer 7

I don't think that the weed is the problem, but rather was your solution. You show classic symptoms of depression (somewhat manic depression). This could have been one reason why you started toking to begin with. These conditions were probably already present before you started smoking and you just unconsciously used weed to self-medicate, rather than the weed causing these conditions. You may benefit greatly from an anti-depressant. However, it is also important to change those thought patterns that have developed from being depressed for so long. Counseling will also probably help greatly. You just need to retrain your brain and reign in those chemical imbalances that cause your mood swings. Talk to your doctor.

Answer 8

The most simple explanation I have ever heard was from an experienced colleague of mine.

Smoking weed has a gradual - tap, tap, tap effect on the structure of the brain. Simalar to the drip, drip, drip of water on a stone. Some of us have a neurone structure that is susceptible to the tap, tap, tap (like sandstone) and others less (like granite). However, no matter the differences in our neurone structure - we are all damaged by the use of this substance.

It sounds as if you have some insight to the damage, so why not consider stopping your use of weed as a coping mechanism before your use causes damage that will be of extraordinary detriment to your wellbeing... Do you really want to struggle with coping with psychotic delusions in addition to your day-to-day issues? The choice is yours at the end of the day...

Be good to yourself, evaluate the evidence you have already experienced and proclaimed. Consider the consequences of continuing with a lifestyle you recognise is having a debilitating effect on you already.

Good Luck!

Answer 9

Oh baby you are not alone! I smoke weed and wonder why the side effects you metioned mess with me so i really dont know but from one smoker to the next i think its true. I wouldnt say im crazy but that weed has me on the edge of almost flipping out. And now i have fear of corners?

Answer 10

Hey buddy, your situation sounds just like what one of my friend use to have when he was also 23. He had been a cannabis user for 3 years before that.
He had constant mood swing issues for a prolong time. Sometimes in a manic state and sometimes in a depressed state. Insomia problems, easily getting irritated. When he went to psychiatrist, he was diagnosed with " bi-poloar disorder ".

If you're not having any delusional thoughts/voices, just problems with your emotions it is not schizophrenia. The cannabis consumption you took in those 5 years has caused chemical imbalance in your neurosystems. you should consult a psychiatrist to see if you've got that problem and the medication should restore that balance in your brain.

good luck.

Answer 11

You don't have side effects your mood changes are normal even people that have never smoked have the same ups and downs its part of life.

Your mind is like a garden if unattended weeds (negative thoughts) will overtake it. you must work on your thoughts daily and take out the thoughts that bring you down and plant the thoughts that lift you up